


Love is on the edge (about as far as you can get)

by thingsaboutstories (miaoujones)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bordello, M/M, additional tags to be added as fic goes on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:54:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7606279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miaoujones/pseuds/thingsaboutstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since he was 17, Keith has worked in the security division at Castle of Lions (by reputation, one of the nicer bordellos in the city), which is where he met Lance and Hunk, and where he first saw Shiro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Castle of Lions is, by reputation, one of the nicer bordellos in the city. Keith accepted that reputation when he came here two years ago and, uninterested in checking out any other places, he's willing to continue accepting it.

He was already seventeen when he came here but, knowing more of the Castle's reputation than how nice it is, he'd said sixteen on his application. It turned out even sixteen was already too old to start training as a Cub, the trademarked euphemism for sexboys here, but Keith had an aptitude for other things and got hired into the security division, which is where he met Lance and Hunk, and where he first saw Shiro.

Not directly, of course; Keith first saw him on one of the cameras monitoring the lounge, bullying one of the younger, smaller Cubs out of the way and taking the powerful-in-every-way looking patron for himself. "Hey." Keith had glanced over his shoulder to check that he had the attention of one of the other security guards before turning back and tapping the monitor. "Should we do something about that?"

Lance had gotten up and come over to have a look. "No worries there. That's Shiro." He'd grinned. "That guy's my hero."

Keith had looked at him with undisguised disbelief. "A sex—a Cub," he'd amended, remembering the preferred term, "is your hero?"

"Yeah." Lance's grin had faded. At the time Keith hadn't known how unusual it was to see an unsmiling Lance, hadn't appreciated the full weight of the serious expression exposed as the grin disappeared. "He's the reason I'm safe in here and not out there." Lance nodded at the monitor, then added, "He got me kicked out of Cub training as 'unsuitable'." His fingers quirked for airquotes before he dropped his hands. "Me and Pidge, too."

"I got here on my own," Hunk had volunteered.

Lance had turned to grin at him. "Yeah you did, buddy." The grin was gone when he turned back to Keith. "You haven't met Pidge yet, have you?" When Keith confirmed it with a shake of his head, Lance nodded. "You will, and when you do, you'll see why—anyhow, yeah, he's a hero. And not just to me."

Then the grin was back, his face tipping up as he'd gazed into a memory that never was. "I would have made an _awesome_ Cub, though!"

As Lance went back to his station, Keith had returned his attention to the monitor. Shiro was still in the lounge, sitting with the patron, hand on the patron's knee as he leaned forward, reaching for one of the silver pitchers on the table; light bounced off the pitcher with the movement, flashed off Shiro's arm. "What happened to him?" Keith asked, watching Shiro pour a drink for the patron.

There had been a rustling as Lance shifted in his seat. "He lost his arm." It sounded like the grin was gone again but when Keith turned to look at him, Lance's back was to him. Only later, when Keith hacked into an off-limits database, did he learn that Shiro hadn't so much lost his arm as the arm had been taken from him by one of the Castle's regular patrons, who still comes around, still has appointments with Shiro.

Keith started watching Shiro to see why he's Lance's hero. Shiro took a lot of patrons, more than his fair share—every one of them classified as rough trade, a lot of them who'd looked at a younger Cub before Shiro caught their eye. Keith thinks there's more to it, why Shiro is Lance's hero, why all the girls in the office get a _look_ on their faces when Shiro's name comes up—but yeah, whatever else there is, there's also that.

Even after he got it, Keith has continued watching Shiro. It's part of the job. The cameras in the rooms are equipped with night vision optics so that even when the lights are out, Security can still see what's going on in case any of the patrons overstep the bounds. Keith sees a lot of Shiro, though never face to face. Security is designed to be invisible, and they only have contact with Cubs or patrons if something has gone wrong—so Keith hopes he and Shiro will never meet.

At least that's what he's hoped for most of the past two years. Lately, though... lately he has started to get tired of going to his room as soon as he's off duty and being able to do nothing more than call up images of Shiro in his mind. Images of Shiro being touched by whatever patron he's just been with, images of Shiro touching them; he's tired of only imagining it's him Shiro is touching. That it's Shiro's hands, the human one and the metallic one, Shiro's fingers on his cock and pushing inside him, helping him come. 

Even if it's his own hand in his own bed, Keith can only come for Shiro anymore. 

He never touches himself in the Security offices, although lately he's been daring to let himself get physically turned on watching Shiro there. It was unintentional the first time he got hard at work; he hadn't realized just how hard he was until he'd moved to check another monitor. It was painfully obvious, to everyone, and Keith had expected an onslaught of merciless teasing—but Lance had only colored and uncharacteristically turned away without a word, while Hunk had simply warned Keith to be careful.

And Keith is. He's careful as he watches. 

Careful as he falls.

Careful as he says, aloud, one day when only Lance and Hunk are on shift with him, "I'm going to make an appointment with him."

He swivels his chair to see both of them staring at him. Lance sits back, folding his arms. "And just exactly how the fuck are you going to do that?"

"I have a plan," Keith says. He's been giving it thought. It's a fireable offense for security guards to fraternize with Cubs, even just to say hello, but the ones most likely to see any fraternization are the guards on duty. So all Keith has to do is make sure his appointment takes place when Lance and Hunk are the ones on duty.

Of course, it's not possible to simply walk in off the street and get an appointment at Castle of Lions. All patrons go through scrutinizing background checks and a thorough assessment by in-person interview before they're even admitted on the premises. Keith has come up with a pseudonym—Antares Saja—and with Pidge's help, the "background check" shouldn't be a problem. 

The interview is another matter. "We need to find someone sympathetic," Lance says, hand to chin in his thinking pose, adopting the project even more readily than Keith had hoped. "I'm pretty popular around here," he says with no trace either of modesty or arrogance, "but it's one thing to have people like you, and another to find the right person who is willing to bend rules for you. Someone to sign off on the interview..."

Keith nods. This is as far as he got while he was making the plan; he's counting on Lance here...

"Well," Hunk breaks the thoughtful silence, "there's always Miss Allura."

The corners of Lance's mouth lift to echo the arch of his brows as he turns to Hunk. "There _is_ always Miss Allura, isn't there!"

Keith's hope fades. Miss Allura is the head of Patron Relations, overseeing all aspects including interviews. The idea is to circumvent her, not to take it to her directly. She does seem to have a soft spot for Lance, it's true, but this is something she could lose her job for and Keith is doubtful she's _that_ fond of Lance...

Lance's grin says he does not share Keith's doubts. "Leave it to me!" he says, forefinger extended as he raises his hand in the air, as if the task has already been undertaken and victory assured.

With no other options available, Keith leaves it to him.

 

Somehow, unbelievably, Lance comes through. "Thank you, tha—hey!" Lance's brow furrows mid-bow, stays that way as he straightens abruptly. "What do you mean, 'unbelievably'?"

"Hey, it's okay." Hunk pats Lance on the shoulder. "I never doubted you for a second."

Lance turns to him. " _Thank_ you, Hunk." He flashes Keith a sidelong glance before saying to Hunk, "It's good to be appreciated by a true friend like you."

Keith feels himself flush. Lance is the true friend here and they all know it. "Thanks, Lance," he says to the floor; then looks up, meets Lance's eyes. "Thank you."

The irritation falls off Lance's face so easily, Keith has to wonder how genuine it was. "Anything for a friend!" His grin is infectious; infected, Keith can't help smiling back.


	2. Chapter 2

Two nights later—it could be day, but it always feels like night inside the bordello—Keith meets Shiro.

Shiro is consummately professional in a way that makes him seem purely natural, and everything about this, everything about him is telling Keith to relax. But even as part of Keith yields, the other part resists, awkward where Shiro is smooth. He's standing here, he's actually standing in the same room as the one he's been watching for years, who has no idea Keith has been watching him.

When Shiro finishes undressing, he turns to set his clothing aside. Turns in a way that lets Keith see the scars across his back, without trying to hide them, because on the form Keith filled out as a patron, he wrote that he likes scars. He doesn't actually _like_ scars but Shiro's are somehow important to Keith and he didn't want Shiro to cover them in any way, as Keith has seen him do with certain patrons. 

He takes in the sight Shiro is offering him, unrushed as he folds the discarded clothing. Keith recognizes some of the scars, ones he watched being made on the monitor. Watched happening and didn't stop because that patron, the one who took Shiro's arm, is one of the few who seem to be exempt from certain bordello rules. Keith doesn't know why; he asked once and the only answer he got was not to ask a second time.

As if he senses Keith's gaze slip off him, done looking at his back, Shiro turns around and comes to Keith, dropping to his knees and reaching for Keith's fly, and Keith swallows at the smooth swiftness of the movement—

"Stop," he says.

Hands hovering at the waistband without touching Keith, Shiro stops. He gazes up, since Keith didn't say on the patron form that he dislikes eye contact, said to the contrary that he likes it. "Have I done something wrong?"

There's something in his tone—it's not aggressive or anything, but Keith knows that Shiro knows he hasn't done anything wrong. He's very good at his job, and he does not make mistakes; Keith did put "receive oral" at the top of the list on the patron form. The confusion doesn't show in Shiro's expression or in his voice but Keith knows it has to be there, and it makes him feel worse, even more awkward, like he really profoundly doesn't know what he's doing...

Shiro is still kneeling. Keith doesn't say anything. He could walk out now, he's already paid and of course he won't file a complaint so there won't be any repercussions—but then he thinks of what his friends and Miss Allura have risked, just to get him here.

Taking a breath to gather himself and then letting the words come without thinking about them, he says, "Do you kiss?"

He knows Shiro kisses; he's seen it thousands of times.

Shiro smiles. "Of course, Sir."

"Don't call me that," Keith says.

Shiro's lashes sweep down for a fraction of a second before he meets Keith's gaze again. "Of course, Antares—" and then when Keith flinches involuntarily at the name he chose for himself for this, Shiro says simply, "Of course," and rises to his feet. 

Keith doesn't know if it's just his imagination or if Shiro's voice really has gone huskier. He holds the gaze and when he doesn't say anything, Shiro steps in closer. They stand almost toe to toe for a moment, Keith tilted up and Shiro tilted down; and when Keith swallows again, Shiro kisses him.

At first Keith does no more than savor the fact that Shiro is kissing him; just parts his lips and accepts Shiro's warm breath, Shiro's warm slick tongue... and then he comes to himself, and starts kissing back, offering Shiro his breath and tongue, taking control as he feels Shiro yield.

When the kiss breaks, Shiro takes Keith's hand to lead him to the bed—but Keith pulls him close and kisses him again. They stand in the middle of the room kissing, and every time Shiro moves for the bed, Keith just kisses him again.

Keith loses track of time as the kisses weave together, cocooning them against the spin of the world.

This time when they part for breath, Shiro doesn't move but he does ask if Keith wants to go to the bed.

"I just want to kiss you," Keith says.

Shiro opens his mouth to reply, then pauses to smile. Not a full smile, just a hint of smile at the corners of his open mouth and in his eyes, and then he says, all low and husky and Keith knows it's not just his imagination this time, Shiro really sounds like this, "I'm getting a little light-headed." And then he smiles again, fuller this time.

Keith doesn't know if it's real or if it's a line, and he doesn't care because it's so freaking pretty.

He lets Shiro lead him to the bed and they start kissing again, and even when they're lying down, that's all they do: kiss.

Now and then Shiro moves to nuzzle Keith's jaw or throat or behind his ear, and Keith lets him, but he always brings Shiro's lips back to his own.

The kissing gets slower and the pauses get longer... and after a while, they're just lying entangled together; doing nothing but lying quietly, breathing.

On the patron form, Keith chose the flash of light option to signal the end of the two hour session he'd booked; the flash, when it comes, is soft, but it still jolts through him. Not awakening him, since he hasn't been asleep, but shocking him back into the world.

Keith is still fully dressed except for his shoes, which he left by the door when he came in. Casually naked, Shiro walks him to the door. As he slips on his shoes, Keith allows himself a glance.

Their eyes meet. "If you enjoyed yourself," Shiro says, "I hope you'll come see me again." 

Unlike earlier things he said, this one is definitely a line, one Keith has heard over the monitor many times before. But that doesn't feel like it matters right now as he looks at Shiro. "I will," he says, and dares to lean in for another kiss—only this time, he goes up on his toes, goes for the forehead instead of the lips, pushing aside the fall of hair to touch Shiro's face.

He doesn't look back as he goes out through the door.


End file.
